Tomorrow is No Guarantee
by Skabooom
Summary: When a new boy transfers in to McKinley with a rough-around-the-edges voice that could take New Directions to a whole new level, the glee club welcomes him instantly as their new star, but Rachel is not as willing to accept him as her new leading man.
1. Introduction

A new school. Just another thing that Brady Lancaster didn't need. The 16 year old boy had been uprooted from his home in New Jersey to be brought to a place like…Lima, Ohio? He had known that his parents getting divorced would mean changes, but he didn't know that it would mean leaving behind everything he loved and knew to move to some shitty town in some shitty state so that his mother could be with her new lover. Now here he was, stepping out of his car, the one his mother had given him to try and keep him from hating her, to start his first day at McKinley High School.

He looked around, not really sure what to make of the place as he entered the hallway. There were boys running around in Varsity jackets, girls in cheerleading uniforms, people wearing pretty clothes, jeans and t-shirts, but he already felt like an outcast. He looked down, biting his lip slightly. He had not put any thought into his outfit – where he was from, black Converse sneakers, loose fitting jeans, a t-shirt and a leather jacket was normal enough, but here, well, he didn't feel like he fit at all. Sure, he hadn't fit in at his old school either, but at least there he had been in with the out crowd. He looked down the hallway now, unable to spot a crowd that looked like his kind of people. Brady was the kind of boy who skipped class to smoke in the baseball dug out or make out with a chick under the bleachers, he was the kind of guy who didn't take shit from anyone, but didn't dish out what wasn't deserved. He was the kind of guy that hosted parties in abandon warehouses on the weekends just so that his band would have a place to play, and he had found his niche, but here…now, he was going to have to start over.

Brady straightened up, taking off his jacket and slinging it over his shoulder. He tossed some of is dark brown hair from his pale blue-grey eyes and started walking down the hallway towards his first class, not caring if anyone saw him or not. He may be the new kid, but he wasn't going to end up shoved in any lockers. At his old school, he had gained a reputation for being a bit of a bad boy, and he didn't care what kind of reputation he got here, as long as no one messed with who he was. Some of the things that he did may not fit the person he appeared to be, but he didn't care. Right now, all that Brady Lancaster really knew was that he was angry. He was angry because his mother was already with a new man, he was angry because he had to leave his home and move to some podunksville town, and he was angry because, unlike before, he no longer had an outlet for himself. Back in Jersey, he had sung and played guitar with his band, but now he was on his own, and he had no idea how to handle that. He would just have to hope that this town had something to offer him.

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**A/N This is just a brief introduction, real chapter to follow. I hope that you guys like this male OC. If you're curious as to his appearance, I can post a picture, just let me know!**


	2. Prayer of the Refugee

Brady managed to stay under the radar all the way through lunchtime, but the idea of going into the crowded cafeteria just seemed like too much. From what he had witnessed, this school had a very definite hierarchy, and he wanted to stay off of the register for as long as possible. He didn't know what he wanted yet, and until he decided where he wanted to be on the social ladder, he didn't want someone else to tell him. Not really being hungry, he set off, exploring the school. Some guy with something resembling a Mohawk was making out with a cheerleader against the lockers, but aside from that, the hallways were mostly full of people talking and gossiping as they moved elsewhere.

Looking to just get away from the rest of the people in the school, he ducked into the auditorium, slightly surprised to find that it was empty. He hadn't seen any place in this school be empty yet. He didn't know what it was about McKinley, but it was only his first day and he could already tell that there were people everywhere all of the time. He closed the auditorium door behind him and walked down the aisle towards the stage. It was a nice auditorium, that couldn't be denied and he couldn't help but wish that he and his band had gotten a chance to play on a stage like this. Now that he was gone, though, he was sure that they would never get the chance. They would find a new singer, if they hadn't already.

With a sigh, Brady jumped up on the stage. He looked around to make sure that no one else was there before he pulled his iPod from his pocket. He didn't need his band to sing his heart out, and no one was around to hear him anyways. With all of the hustle and bustle at this school, he doubted that anyone would be able to hear him from the hallway. He scrolled down his iPod song list, not sure which he wanted to choose. He had been singing for as long as he could remember, and though he didn't have any training, the cheering that happened at the gigs his band performed let him know that he wasn't hard to listen to. Brady stopped as he reached _Prayer of the Refugee_ by Rise Against. This had been one of his favorite songs to sing with his band, and though they weren't here, he could do it by himself. He closed his eyes and began to sing, his anxiety and anger about moving starting to subside as he belted out the lyrics.

Warm yourself by the fire, son,  
And the morning will come soon.  
I'll tell you stories of a better time,  
In a place that we once knew.

Before we packed our bags  
And left all this behind us in the dust,  
We had a place that we could call home,  
And a life no one could touch.

Don't hold me up now,  
I can stand my own ground,  
I don't need your help now,  
You won't let me down, down, down!

Don't hold me up now,  
I can stand my own ground,  
I don't need your help now,  
You won't let me down, down, down!

Down!

We are the angry and the desperate,  
The hungry, and the cold,  
We are the ones who kept quiet,  
And always did what we were told.

But we've been sweating while you slept so calm,  
In the safety of your home.  
We've been pulling out the nails that hold up  
Everything you've known.

Don't hold me up now,  
I can stand my own ground,  
I don't need your help now,  
You won't let me down, down, down!

Don't hold me up now,  
I can stand my own ground,  
I don't need your help now,  
You won't let me down, down, down!

So open your eyes child,  
Let's be on our way.  
Broken windows and ashes  
Are guiding the way.

Keep quiet no longer,  
We'll sing through the day,  
Of the lives that we've lost,  
And the lives we've reclaimed.

Go!

Don't hold me up now,  
I can stand my own ground,  
I don't need your help now,  
You won't let me down, down, down!

Don't hold me up now,  
I can stand my own ground,  
I don't need your help now,  
You won't let me down, down, down!

Don't hold me up...  
I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground  
Don't hold me up...  
I don't need your help  
No! No! No!  
Don't hold me up!  
I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground  
Don't hold me up!  
I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground  
Don't let me down, down, down, down, down!

By the time he finished, he was on his knees, eyes still closed, panting heavily. As he sang, he had been moving around the stage, not really dancing, but getting out his frustrations. He was breathing heavily and quickly, just staying where he was, center stage, on his knees for several seconds before he was jarred by the sound of someone clapping. His eyes opened instantly, and he watched as a middle aged man with curly brown hair approached him.

"You must be new here," the man stated, hopping up on the stage as Brady pulled himself to his feet. "I'm Will Scheuster, Mr. Schuester, I teach Spanish and I'm the coach of Glee Club."

"Brady Lancaster." He looked at the man. "And yeah, I'm new."

"You have an incredible voice," he stated.

"Thanks." Brady shrugged, pulling the headphones from his ears and shoving his iPod into his pocket.

"Look, I know you might have heard rumors about social suicide, but the glee club could really use your voice…if you'd be interested in trying out. We've just taken the Sectionals title, and we're going for Regionals…we could use something new to shake things up."

"New?" Brady frowned.

"Well yeah." Will nodded. "Most of our vocals are clean, they've been trained, your voice is rough around the around the edges and you can hit some places that most of our other male singers can't."

"Look, glee club is all well and good, I'm sure," Brady stated. "But I don't sing show tunes and love ballads. What you heard is what I like."

"Well I think if you at least came, you'd find that we're more than just show tunes and love ballads." He smiled. "We sing what we want to sing, and yeah, you might have to sing some stuff you don't want to, but with a voice like yours, we can't risk wasting that." He shook his head. "You'd get your chance to sing your stuff."

"I don't know." Brady bit his lip. Social suicide sounded bad, and wasn't glee club just a bunch of people getting together and singing about happy things? He hadn't really thought it was serious, and he wasn't the most serious of guys, but music was the one thing he didn't like to joke about.

"Look, just come try it out, okay?" Will tilted his head to the side. "We meet in the music room after school, come by if you want to, if you don't, I won't harass you about it."

"If you won Sectionals, why change up what you've got?" he asked. "It worked, didn't it? Why would you want to bring in something else?"

"We took Sectionals, yeah, but that's cake to Regionals. We got killed at Regionals last year, and with someone like you, someone that could bring a little bit of an edge to our group, well, at least an edge we don't already have, we might be able to do what we couldn't last year."

"Right…" Brady frowned, still skeptical.

"Look, it's clear that you love to sing, and when you get down to it, that's what glee club is. It's a place for kids who love to sing and dance to come in and do just that, and we're always looking for new members."

"Whoa, you didn't say anything about dancing before…" Brady frowned.

"It's show choir," Will shrugged. "Everyone dances – don't worry about feeling stupid, it's not hard steps, we've got football players in the group."

"I'll think about it." Brady shoved his hands into the pocket of his leather jacket.

"That's all I'm asking." The bell rang, and Will nodded, leaving Brady to head to class. Brady jumped off of the stage, not sure what he was going to do. A part of him wanted to go and check out the glee club, but another part of him wasn't ready to solidify himself as a loser just yet.


	3. Born to be Wild

When the final bell rang, Brady had his mind made up. He was going to the glee club. He hadn't cared before what people thought of him, so why start now? If he sang well and people enjoyed it, he would have his outlet back and it would keep him out of the house, give him something to do that wasn't being around his mother and her new boyfriend. If it didn't work out, it didn't work out…but if it did, he might be able to find his way at this school. He didn't need anyone but himself, but that didn't mean that he wanted to be all alone.

Before he went to the music room, though, he ducked behind the school and pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lighting it and taking a few drags, leaning against the wall. What was he doing here? He didn't know anyone, he didn't know anything. He wanted to be back home, but he wasn't, so shouldn't he at least try for something new? He finished the cigarette quickly and stamped it out before turning, heading with determination to the music room.

"Sorry I'm late," he stated as the small but odd looking group looked up at him. He could tell just by staring at them for a few seconds that this was definitely the out crowd. "Got lost."

"You came." Will smiled, moving next to Brady, but his hand on the boy's shoulder. "This is Brady Lancaster, just transferred in and I think he's here to show you guys what he's got."

"Wait." A girl with brown hair stood up, moving to the front of the room. "We just killed at Sectionals, bringing in someone new would only mess us up."

"Rachel," Will stated. "Anyone who's ever auditioned for this club has gotten in, remember?"

"That was when we needed members," Rachel stated stubbornly. "We're fine now, we don't need him." The rest of the group started to mumble in agreement, and Brady rolled his eyes. He didn't need this, not right now. He turned, heading for the door. However, he stopped before he left. If they didn't want him, they didn't want him, but he was at least going to show them what they would be missing out on. Maybe he wasn't a narcissist, but he knew that if the director wanted him, he must have something that no one else in the group had. He smirked, turning around and grabbing a guitar that was propped up against the wall. He plugged it into an amp and began to play, singing along with his own strumming.

Get your motor running  
Head out on the highway  
Looking for adventure  
In whatever comes our way

Yeah, darling  
Gonna make it happen  
Take the world in a love embrace  
Fire all of your guns at once and  
Explode into space

I like smoke and lightning  
Heavy metal thunder  
Racing in the wind  
And the feeling that I'm under

Yeah, darling  
Gonna make it happen  
Take the world in a love embrace  
Fire all of your guns at once and  
Explode into space

Like a true nature child  
We were born  
Born to be wild  
We have climbed so high  
Never want to die  
Born to be wild  
Born to be wild

As he finished, he looked out at the group, all of them staring at him in awe. He smirked to himself, knowing that he had at least shown them that he was something, even if he wasn't something that they wanted.

"Wow, Finn." Brittany leaned in towards Finn. "He's like…better than you."

"Shut up," Rachel snapped at Brittany, before looking at Brady. "Alright, I'll admit it, you can sing, but how do we know you can actually handle us. We have major star potential here, and we don't need a burnout bringing us down."

"Rachel!" Will frowned. "Did you not just hear him? His voice could give us the edge we need to take Regionals. He has a stronger, more commanding voice than Finn does, no offense, Finn."

"It's true, Rachel," Finn stated. "He can get to notes that I can only dream of. If we're going to win Regionals, we need a male lead who can truly keep up with you."

"You can keep up with me," Rachel stated, frown still in place on her face.

"Not the way he could." Finn shook his head.

"Keep up with you?" Brady asked, looking at the girl. "Why is keeping up with you so damn important?" All that Brady could see was a whiney, controlling bitch who didn't like change.

"Because I'm the star of New Directions," Rachel stated. "I take the female solos and all ballads, at least in competition." She smoothed her skirt, looking far too pleased with herself.

"New Directions?" Brady asked.

"That's the name of our glee club," Finn explained, getting up. He extended his hand to Brady. "Finn Hudson." He introduced himself. "Look, man, I've been doing lead here long enough to know that it takes a lot to keep up with Rachel, and I can't always do it. Maybe the rest of the group doesn't want to admit it, but we could really use your voice."

"Thanks." Brady shook Finn's hand. "But I'm not going to come in here and stir things up if it's going to cause all this drama – I don't want to be the new kid who came and ruined everything." He shook his head.

"Finn's right." Tina stood up. "We need his voice to improve."

"I agree." Mike stood next to her, putting his arm around his girlfriend.

"Let's put this to a vote," Will stated. "Everyone who wants Brady in the group, raise your hand." Brady watched as, slowly, everyone in the group raised their hands except for Rachel and the boy with the Mohawk whom he had seen in the hallway earlier. "All opposed?" Rachel and Puck raised their hands. "That settles it." Will smiled. "Brady Lancaster, welcome to New Directions."

"Thanks." Brady smiled, taking a seat and listening throughout the meeting. He grabbed his backpack, heading to his car once it was over. He made it as far as the school exit before a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned to find himself face to face with Rachel Berry.

"Look, Brady," she stated, her voice more than a little snippy. "You may have a good voice, and while Finn and I are no longer an item, we have been the lead vocalists for New Directions since its beginning, and you are not going to come in here and mess things up for us. Finn is our leading man, and that isn't going to change just because you can play guitar and sing _Born to be Wild_. Anyone can sing that song, it's for amateurs, really, and Finn and I, we're stars." She stopped, but only long enough to take a deep breath and continue talking. "Finn and I may not be the glee club power couple anymore, but we are its stars, and you aren't taking his songs."

"Oh." Brady smiled, leaning up against the wall. "I see what this is about…wow, you have got to be the most transparent person in the world."

"What do you mean?" Rachel frowned, folding her arms across her chest.

"You think that singing duets with this Finn guy is going to get you two back together."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Rachel shook her head.

"Oh don't play dumb with me." Brady smirked. "You're not upset that I'm going to come in and change the way your club sings, you're afraid that I'm going to take his duets with you, and I'm guessing that right now, those duets are the closest you get to him."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rachel said again, this time more anger in her voice. "And I don't have to listen to you talk to me like this, I am a star, and so is Finn. You're rock and roll voice may be fun, but you're rough around the edges, and in the end, it's clean cut vocals that win competitions." With that, Rachel turned on her heel, storming off down the hall.

Brady let out a low whistle as he headed for his car. For a first day, a lot had happened. He slid inside, turning the music up as loudly as he could and driving out with the top of the car down. He didn't care that his music was loud or that people was staring. This was who he was, and he wasn't going to let anyone, even Rachel Berry, tell him who to be or what to do.

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**_A/N Hey, sorry I posted the wrong chapter! This is the right one! I hope that you guys are enjoying this!_**


	4. Jesus of Suburbia

A week went by, and to Brady's surprise, it wasn't totally awful. Sure, in terms of music, glee club wasn't exactly what he had been used to, but it the best that he was going to get. Instead of giving him grief, Rachel had taken to pretending that Brady didn't exist, and he allowed her to do so, sitting in the back by himself in both classes and glee club. He took a break to smoke in the dugout whenever he got the chance, and now was one such time. School had let out for the day and he had a few minutes before he had to be in Glee club. There had been so much drama going on, and Brady didn't know if that was normal for the club or not, but there was definitely something weird going on between Sam, Finn, Rachel and Quinn, not to mention the weird vibes that he was getting from the others. Sure, it was fun singing, but it could get stressful in there. He leaned up against the wall, closing his eyes as he took a long, slow drag.

"Those things will kill you, you know."

Brady's eyes snapped open as he looked up to see Finn standing before him, hands on his hips.

"Eh." Brady shrugged, taking another drag. "I'll quit eventually."

"It'll be hell on your voice," he argued.

"My voice is already rough."

"Suit yourself." Finn leaned up against the dugout next to him. "You've been quiet since that first day. Why show us what you've got and then reign it back in?"

"Because." He shrugged. "I don't want to get in the way."

"In the way of what?" Finn asked.

"Rachel." He smiled, stamping out the cigarette. "She's in love with you."

"I know." Finn sighed. "But you're not getting in the way! If you take my solos, my duets with her, maybe she'll calm down on that front!"

"So you want me to sing love songs with her so she'll fall out of love with you?" Brady asked.

"Well…that'd be nice, yeah."

"So what…you can sing love songs to Quinn?"

"What?" Finn looked caught off guard.

"I know you're crazy about her," Brady stated. "You're always watching her during rehearsal."

"She's with Sam," Finn stated.

"Who also loves her, yes." Brady nodded. "But he's been eyeing Santana, so you might have an in with Quinn if that goes somewhere."

"Jesus, do you just have the world's address?" Finn asked.

"There are benefits to sitting in the back," Brady stated. "You can watch everyone, figure out what they want and what's going on."

"That's creepy," Finn stated. "But I can see why you'd do it."

"I'm new here." Brady shrugged. "Gotta figure things out in some way."

"I guess that's true." Finn stood upright, getting ready to head to the room. "Hey, we're gonna get an assignment from Schuester today, so just be ready."

"Assignments?" he asked.

"Yeah." Finn nodded. "We get assignments, then we have to find a song and sing based on whatever theme he gives us."

"Ah." Brady nodded. "That sounds…interesting."

"Just stop standing in the back and actually sing something for once, and you'll be fine."

"Okay…" He stood up too, following Finn to the club room, where one word was already written on the board. Broadway.

With a hefty sigh, Brady slid down in his seat. Great. He knew nothing about show tunes, nor did he really ever care to sing one.

"Alright, so last week was love songs, this week…well we're going for Broadway. You guys can pair up, you can work on your own, it's up to you, but I want you all to come in on Monday with a song from a Broadway show all ready to go."

"Mr. Schuester?" Rachel raised her hand, though spoke without being called on. "I'd be more than happy to go right now, I have many Broadway hits in my repertoire, and I would love to be the one giving an example of how to put on a song from a Broadway show."

"That's all well and good, Rachel, but you always give the example." Mr. Schuester looked around. "Is there anyone else who wants to give Broadway a try?" he asked. "Think for a minute, there have been a lot of plays on Broadway, so there's something in there for everyone.

_Something in there for me? Yeah right. I don't do Broadway. I'm Brady fucking Lancaster. I was in an alternative punk band, I don't do Streisand I do Green Day – wait, didn't Green Day have a musical on Broadway? No one else is volunteering…someone has to shut this Rachel girl up…oh what the hell. _

"I think I've got something, Mr. Schuester." Brady smirked, raising his hand.

"Oh do you?" Mr. Schuester looked mildly surprised. "I thought you weren't the Broadway type."

"Trust me." Brady stood up, walking to the front of the room and whispering to the piano player. "I've got this one." He took the guitar and walked over to Artie. "I'm gonna need your help." He smiled, handing the guitar to Artie, whispering the song to him to. A grin spread across Artie's face, and Brady felt like maybe this wasn't as stupid of an idea as it could be. Sure, he had no idea what he was doing, but he loved the song, and he had sung it a million times. It was the song that he and his band always closed with, probably the song he was most comfortable with of any he had ever sung. Brady turned around, his back facing the group as the opening chords were played. He spun around, facing the group as he began to sing.

I'm the son of rage and love  
The Jesus of Suburbia  
From the bible of none of the above  
On a steady diet of  
Soda pop and Ritalin  
No one ever died for my sins in hell  
As far as I can tell  
At least the ones I got away with

And there's nothing wrong with me  
This is how I'm supposed to be  
In a land of make believe  
That don't believe in me

Get my television fixed  
Sitting on my crucifix  
The living room or my private womb  
While the Moms and Brads are away  
To fall in love and fall in debt  
To alcohol and cigarettes and Mary Jane  
To keep me insane,  
Doing someone else's cocaine

And there's nothing wrong with me  
This is how I'm supposed to be  
In a land of make believe  
That don't believe in me

At the center of the Earth  
In the parking lot  
Of the 7-11 where I was taught  
The motto was just a lie  
It says home is where your heart is  
But what a shame  
Cause everyone's heart  
Doesn't beat the same  
It's beating out of time

City of the dead  
At the end of another lost highway  
Signs misleading to nowhere  
City of the damned  
Lost children with dirty faces today  
No one really seems to care

I read the graffiti  
In the bathroom stall  
Like the holy scriptures of the shopping mall  
And so it seemed to confess  
It didn't say much  
But it only confirmed that  
The center of the earth  
Is the end of the world  
And I could really care less

City of the dead  
At the end of another lost highway  
Signs misleading to nowhere  
City of the damned  
Lost children with dirty faces today  
No one really seems to care

I don't care if you don't  
I don't care if you don't  
I don't care if you don't care

I don't care

Everyone is so full of shit  
Born and raised by hypocrites  
Hearts recycled but never saved  
From the cradle always to the grave  
We are the kids of war and peace  
From Anaheim to the middle east  
We are the stories and disciples  
Of the Jesus of suburbia  
Land of make believe  
And that don't believe in me  
Land of make believe  
And I don't believe  
And I don't care!  
I don't care!

I don't care!

I don't care!

Dearly beloved are you listening?  
I can't remember a word that you were saying  
Are we demented or am I disturbed?  
The space that's in between insane and insecure  
Oh, therapy, can you please fill the void?  
Am I retarded or am I just overjoyed  
Nobody's perfect and I stand accused  
For lack of a better word, and that's my best excuse

To live and not to breathe  
Is to die In tragedy  
To run, to run away  
To find what you believe  
And I leave behind  
This hurricane of fucking lies

I lost my faith to this  
This town that don't exist  
So I run  
I run away  
To the light of masochist  
And I leave behind  
This hurricane of fucking lies  
And I walked this line  
A million and one fucking times  
But not this time

I don't feel any shame  
I won't apologize

When there ain't nowhere you can go  
Running away from pain  
When you've been victimized  
Tales from another broken home

You're leaving...  
You're leaving...  
You're leaving...  
Ah you're leaving home...

When Brady finished, he wasn't sure what to expect. He wanted to look, but he was afraid, so he ended the way he had started, with his back turned to the crowd, waiting to hear the reaction, but all that he was getting was silence, and it was killing him. Finally, he felt someone's hand on his shoulder, and he turned around to see Mercedes standing there.

"Brady?" she said, smiling at him. "You're an amazing singer. I know that not all of us have been the most welcoming to you, but you do have an incredible voice, and we really could use it at Regionals."

"Thanks." Brady smiled at the girl, looking up to see the rest of the reactions. Everyone was smiling at him except for Rachel Berry, who was just sitting there, with her arms folded across her chest.

"That really was quite impressive," Mr. Schuester said.

"Thanks," Brady said again, moving with Mercedes to go sit down.

"Mr. Schuester," Rachel stated. "I'm not sure that should count. I mean that wasn't really a song written for Broadway, was it?"

"Rachel, he just came up here and belted out an amazing song for 9 minutes," Mr. Schuester stated. "A song that was on Broadway, now the assignment stands. You call choose a song and I'll be curious to see what you've come up with on Monday.

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**_A/N Once again, I reassure that Rachel WILL become less of a bitch and more of a prominent character. ALSO, there is a link to a picture of what Brady looks like posted at the top of my profile if you guys want to know what he looks like. And I hope that more plot development happens in the next chapter, as I know that this is starting to drag! I'm sorry!_**


	5. Another Day

"Brady!" Brady had just reached his car in the parking lot when Rachel Berry came running up behind him. "Wait up."

"What do you want?" He asked, leaning against the side of his 1966 turquoise Cadillac convertible. He was prepared for anything, for this girl to yell at him, to tell him that she wanted him to stop stealing her thunder, that she wanted him out of her glee club, that she wanted him out of her school, but he decided to hear her out regardless.

"I hate that I'm saying this, in fact I really had to debate over this one, but I need your help." She sighed.

"You?" Brady laughed, looking mildly amused. "You need my help?" Rachel nodded, looking down and not making eye contact with him. "With what?"

"With my Broadway song."

"You need help singing a song?" he asked, raising one eyebrow suspiciously.

"No, never mind this, was a stupid idea, I should have known you'd just be spiteful." She turned around, ready to walk away, but Brady put his hand on her shoulder, stopping her from doing so.

"Hey, wait up – you come chasing after me in a parking lot saying you need my help and then just walk away at the first sign of spite?" Brady tilted his head to the side. "From what I've heard about you, you're a lot of things, Rachel Berry, but you're not the kind to give up easy."

"Easily," Rachel corrected. "And I'm not, but I'm not sure I need your help after all."

"Well why don't you tell me what you need help with and we can go from there?" Brady leaned back against the door of his car. "I'll give you a ride home and you explain it to me."

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Rachel shook his head.

"What, afraid that if people see me giving you a ride home it'll ruin your reputation?" he asked. "I've asked around, Rachel, I know glee club is the bottom of the heap. I guess being the new kid and in glee club is about as low as it gets, but come on, one little ride home isn't going to ruin your life."

"Fine." Rachel gave her address and stormed to the passenger's side door and got in, throwing her backpack into the backseat. "Do you have an iPod hookup?"

"I do." He handed it to her. "But first, tell me what you need me for."

"I have the perfect song," she stated. "But it has a follow up song, and you are the only boy in the group who has the voice to pull off the male vocals."

"Oh?" Brady smirked, tilting his head to the side. "I thought glee club didn't need me."

"Look, if you're just going to antagonize me, let me out here." She stated. "I get made fun of enough as it is outside of glee club, I don't need it from you two."

"Hey, I'm just saying what you already said." He shrugged. "Put on the song."

"Songs," she corrected. "They're from a play called Rent, have you heard of it?"

"Heard of it, yeah, but I've never listened to it." He shrugged.

"Well you're about to. The first song is called Out Tonight, I'd sing that one, then the second one, Another Day, is where you would sing, with me, of course, but you'd have the main part." She hooked her iPod up to the system and pressed play.

The first song was pretty much the last thing that Brady expected. The girl sitting next to him dressed like she wanted to be anything but promiscuous, yet the song suggested very much otherwise. He listened as he drove, though, paying attention to both songs. The first was slutty, very much so, in fact, and the second, well it had a more rock and roll feel to it than he was expecting from a Broadway song. He had already slammed one edgy Broadway song out of the park, so why not another? When the song ended, he turned to Rachel, tilting his head to the side.

"So," he stated, parking in front of her house. "Why do you need those songs?" he asked. "And why do you need the second one? I understand, the first one will get Finn's attention, but why do you need me?" he questioned.

"Those songs were meant to go together," she stated. "One performed without the other is no good."

"And if you're singing to me, he'll notice that you're not singing to him?" Brady asked, tilting his head to the side.

"I have to go now," Rachel stated, yanking her iPod from the system. "If you're in, I'll e-mail you the sheet music, we can meet here tomorrow at 5 to rehearse."

"I'll be here." Brady sighed, putting his car back into gear.

"Oh, just for the record," Rachel stated, turning back to look at him. "This does not mean that I like you."

"Didn't think it did." Brady just laughed, putting his own iPod into the hookup and blasting his music as he drove off.

He didn't fully understand the way things worked at McKinley yet, but he was starting to. Everyone fought their battles, but some of them did it through song instead of violence. Rachel needed someone to serenade to get Finn's attention, but Brady honestly didn't think it would help much. Finn had his eye on Quinn, and though Brady couldn't be sure, as he was new to knowing these people, he wasn't convinced that Finn's vision could be swayed.

"Lancaster," he stated as he answered.

"Brady?" a girl's voice was on the other end. "It's Mercedes. I got your number from Mr. Schuester."

"Oh, hey." Brady smiled. Mercedes was one of the members of glee club who had been the nicest to him so far. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out, since you don't really know anyone here but the glee club and I know that not everyone there is being too accepting."

"Oh." Brady paused at a red light, thinking about the options. It was go out with people he didn't know or go home and have to deal with his mom and her boyfriend. "Yeah, okay. Thanks."

"Cool. Mike, Tina and I will meet you at the Starbucks on 5th and Wagner, okay?"

"Sounds good, assuming I don't get lost, I'll be there in like…10 minutes."

"10 minutes sounds great, can't wait to see you there." Mercedes hung up, and Brady turned his car around, preparing to head to meet them. He was nervous, mostly because he hadn't met with people here yet. He was friendly with some of the people in glee club, Finn, mostly, but he wasn't sure that he could call them friends, and he hadn't hung out with them outside of the club yet. However, he was going to be stuck here, he wanted to make sure that he got his life going. He couldn't just sit around and mope, wait to go back to New Jersey. It wasn't going to happen and he was starting to realize that.

* * *

**_A/N Alright, so yet another chapter gone, this one with no singing - I'd REALLY like some feedback on the Rachel/Brady interaction - let me know what you think? Also, what do you think of Brady as a character?_**


	6. Coffee Shop Soundtrack

"You made it." Mercedes stood up and smiled as Brady entered the coffee shop.

"Yeah, I guess I did." He nodded. "I'll come sit with you in a sec, gonna grab a drink." He went up to the counter, ordering a large black coffee and taking it, joining them at the table. "What's up?" He nodded to Tina and Mike, who were sitting side by side, Mike's arm around Tina.

"Not much." Mercedes shrugged. "We just thought that you might want to join us, we thought that it would be good for you to have friends in the glee club since we all have to work together to win Regionals."

"Winning is a really big deal to you guys, isn't it?" Brady asked, taking a sip of the coffee, burning his tongue slightly.

"The program is contingent on us doing well and we lost last year, so we're going to have to really step up our game, and with Regionals as tough as they are, if we want to go to nationals, we need to do a stellar job," Mercedes explained. "You see, we're the best out there and we're definitely something different, and we have girls who can sing pretty much anything, but when it comes to guys, we don't have all of the bases covered. Finn's voice is good, but it's weak in some places, and Puck, though he'd never admit it, is more of a crooner. Artie is great, but his range is fairly small, Sam isn't very good at anything that's not acoustic and Mike can't sing at all."

"It's true." Mike laughed. "I'm a dancer, not a singer."

"Well you're the opposite of me, then." Brady shrugged. "Can't dance for shit, but I guess I can sing."

"You guess?" Tina asked. "Brady, you're just what we need, you're rough, you're rock and roll! We have clean voices, we have pop voices, but we don't have anything like yours."

"Well now we do," Mercedes said, smiling at Brady.

"I'm glad that I could help, then." Brady nodded, taking another sip of his coffee. It didn't really bother him, being in the glee club, but he knew that the only reason he was doing it was to be out of the house. If he managed to pull a band together, he'd quit the glee club in a second. Brady needed an outlet, he needed to be able to make music, and right now, the glee club was that outlet, but if he found another one, at least based on what he knew about glee club so far, he would take the other outlet. Sure, Mercedes, Mike, Tina and Finn were nice, but everyone else seemed to be, well, more dramatic than he would like. Brady liked to keep things realistic and down to earth, and already being in glee club was making that difficult.

"So you're from New Jersey, right?" Mercedes asked.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Trenton, born and raised."

"Well what brings you here?" Mercedes tilted her head to the side. "I mean, Lima, Ohio isn't exactly everyone's dream destination. Usually people are trying to, you know, get out instead of move in."

"Yeah, I know." Brady sighed. "My mom's boyfriend lives here, so she moved to be with him. It's not a big deal." Brady shrugged. "High school is high school, I'll be out of here for college anyways, so what's a couple years in Lima?" Sure, he was lying, but he really, really didn't want to talk about his family problems. Mercedes, Tina and Mike were nice and all, but he hardly knew them, and even aside from that, Brady wasn't one to really open up about his feelings. In fact, he was so good at keeping his emotions to himself that no one had ever even noticed that he had problems, at least aside from his parents, and they had only noticed because they were the cause of the problems. He hadn't wanted to move here, but it was that or stay with his fucking dead beat father, and even Lima, Ohio was better than that.

"Oh." Mercedes nodded. "Well what do you think of McKinley?" she asked.

"It's different than my old school." He shrugged. "There's a lot more social hierarchy, lots of hatred and judgment and whatnot, which isn't really my thing. At my old school, it was really just live and let live, yeah, there were some bullies, but if you left them alone, they left you alone, that's kind of how everything was. Here it's more like just by being around there are certain people you're offending."

"Well at least you haven't gotten a slushie in the face yet," Tina stated.

"What?" Brady asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's what happens around here when you're on the bottom of the food chain, well, we are," Tina stated. "People throw slushies in your face."

"Ouch." Brady couldn't help but smile – that actually seemed kind of funny to him.

"Yeah, it's funny until it happens to you, it's both hurtful and painful," Mercedes stated. "But I guess that's just the way the world works."

"Well maybe I'll find out for myself." Brady shrugged. He had managed to avoid any of the glee club loser backlash as of yet, mostly because he knew that he looked different than other people at the school. With the way he carried himself, the fact that he had a strong, muscular build and wore a leather jacket every day, he looked tougher than most of the other glee club kids, and he could defend himself if had to.

"I hope not." Mercedes smiled at him. "I like you, and that's saying something. I don't like just anyone."

"Well thank you, but are you sure you don't just like me because of my voice?" Brady asked.

"I'm sure." Mercedes nodded.

"Look, this was fun, but Tina and I have to run," Mike stated. "I'm supposed to go over to her place for dinner, if we're late, her parents might kill me."

"They're not going to kill you!" Tina stated, getting up.

"Are you kidding? They're terrifying!" Mike joked, taking her hand as they left. "See you Mercedes, Brady."

"Well those two are quite the pair." Brady leaned back in his chair as he finished his coffee. "Need a ride home?"

"If you're offering." Mercedes nodded, and they stood, tossing their cups. "So, do you know what you're doing for your Broadway assignment?"

"Um, I was informed by Rachel that I was going to be doing some song from Rent." He shrugged. "She played it for me and it sounded fine."

"What song?" Mercedes asked.

"Well it's kind of a two part thing, she's singing one, something about want to go out, and then I'm supposed to sing a song basically hell no while she begs?" he shrugged. "I don't know the context, haven't seen the play."

"Oh sweet lord." Mercedes rolled her eyes. "You know what she's doing, right?"

"Um, not for sure, but I think I've got a pretty good idea, yeah." Brady nodded, following the directions Mercedes had given him to her house.

"She's always doing this, trying to make Finn jealous by singing with other boys, doesn't that bother you?" she asked.

"No, not really." He shrugged. "She can do what she wants, if Finn's in love with her, it'll work, if he's not, it won't."

"You know she's gonna be all over you, right? During the song, I mean?"

"That's not a problem." Brady smiled, pulling up in front of Mercedes' house. "It's just glee club, right?"

"Just glee club?" Mercedes laughed as she got out of the car. "Not to Rachel Berry, it's not."

"What do you mean?" Brady asked.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough." Mercedes smiled, waving goodbye as she disappeared into her house. Brady frowned as he drove back home. What the hell did Mercedes mean? Of course it was just glee club…wasn't it?

* * *

_**A/N Alright, there is a poll concerning the romantic connections of this story at the TOP of my profile, so if you care, please vote. This is the beginning of what i hope to be a close friendship between Brady and Mercedes. I hope that you guys are still enjoying this, and I'm curious to see what happens myself! :P**_


	7. Out Tonight

At 5 sharp, Brady pulled outside of the address that Rachel had e-mailed him. He had printed off the sheet music that she had sent to him and even looked up clips of the song on Youtube – apparently there was a movie of the play, so he had added that to his Netflix queue just in case. He got out of his car and was about to knock when the door opened.

"Good, right on time. We have to get started." Rachel grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the house. "My room is upstairs, we'll practice there, I have plenty of room. Did you look at the music?"

"It's good to see you too," Brady teased as he followed Rachel up the stairs.

"Yes, yes, now did you look at the music?" She asked.

"Relax, relax." He smiled at her. "I looked at the music, watched some clips online, I even practiced it once or twice, no need to get your panties in a bunch."

"My panties have nothing to do with this, look, Lancaster, if you're going to sing with me, you need to take this seriously."

"Rachel, Rachel." Brady smiled at her. "Calm down, okay? We'll be fine! This isn't a competition, it's just an assignment, right? And if I'm correct, it's not even graded, so what are you freaking out about?"

"You don't understand." Rachel shook her head. "I'm a star, Brady, and I am the brightest star in this school. If I am going to be singing with another person, they either have to stand behind me and do background vocals or they have to be at least something of a star themselves, and you know what stars do? They work for the things they care about."

"Wow." Brady reached up, raking his hands through his hair. This girl was really uptight, and he was beginning to see what Mercedes meant about this being more than just glee club to Rachel. "Rachel, don't you think maybe you're taking all of this a little too seriously?"

"Don't you think that maybe you're not taking it seriously enough?" Rachel returned. "If I don't have the best songs and performances in class, then I won't get the solos, and if I don't have the solos at Regionals, we won't win, because I _am _the best performer in glee club, and we have to win! This isn't just a performance, it's an audition for solos, every glee club meeting is an audition for solos."

"Right then…" Brady bit his lip. "Why don't we just cut the chatter and get to work if it means that much to you?"

"Finally." Rachel smiled, moving a CD to her boom box. "Something we agree on. This is the karaoke track, I'm going to start with my song, and it will go right into yours, so I want you to be ready, okay? Mimi would be singing this song to Roger, so I'm going to be singing this song to you, you can't just zone out and sit there and wait for your turn."

"Okay, I'll pay attention." Brady shrugged his shoulders, sitting down at the edge of the bed as she pressed play.

What's the time?  
Well it's gotta be close to midnight  
My body's talking to me  
It says, 'Time for danger'

It says 'I wanna commit a crime  
Wanna be the cause of a fight  
I wanna put on a tight skirt and flirt  
With a stranger'

I've had a knack from way back  
At breaking the rules once I learn the games  
Get up life's too quick

I know someplace sick  
Where this chick'll dance it the flames  
We don't need any money  
I always get in for free  
You can get in too  
If you get in with me

Let's go out tonight  
I have to go out tonight  
You wanna play?  
Let's run away  
We won't be back  
Before it's Christmas Day  
Take me out tonight (meow), HA!

When I get a wink from the doorman  
Do you know how lucky you'll be?  
That you're on line with the feline of  
Avenue B

Let's go out tonight  
I have to go out tonight  
You wanna prowl  
Be my night owl?  
Well take my hand we're gonna howl  
Out tonight

In the evening I've got to roam  
Can't sleep in the city of neon and chrome  
Feels to damn much like home  
When the Spanish babies cry

So let's find a bar  
So dark we forget who we are  
And all the scars from the  
Nevers and maybes die

Let's go out tonight  
Have to go out tonight  
You're sweet  
Wanna hit the street?  
Wanna wail at the moon like a cat in  
Heat?  
Just take me out tonight

Please take me out tonight  
Don't forsake me - out tonight  
I'll let you make me - out tonight  
Tonight - tonight – tonight

As she sang, Rachel danced around the room, swinging around the posts of the bed and whatnot as she hit every note. Brady raised an eyebrow, not sure that he was quite ready for something on this level. She was clearly very rehearsed already and he had only just started learning the song – he still needed the sheet music to sing it! He was even more surprised when she ended the song by straddling his lap.

Brady picked up the sheet music and began to sing along with the karaoke track. While the male part was featured, Rachel still sang good portions of it, and he had to admit that they sounded pretty good together – she was a good singer, there was no denying that, even if she was crazy and uptight. It intimidated him a little bit that she already had everything committed to memory, but she had probably listened to these songs before this, and he had never heard of them before.

"Alright, that was fine." Rachel nodded, standing up off of the bed. "You're not an awful singer, so you'll handle the vocals fine, your part, at least, but you can't just sit there. Roger is full of emotion! A part of him wants Mimi, but a part of him won't let himself have her. She's a younger woman, sexy and alluring, albeit with a drug problem, and he's a drug addict coming out of 6 months of withdrawal after the suicide of his ex-girlfriend."

"Um…okay…" Brady frowned. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Just do what you think Roger would do." She smiled. "You've got this woman throwing herself at you, and your body wants her, of course, because she's this gorgeous, young temptress, but your mind isn't ready for that."

"I'm not sure what Roger would do," Brady admitted. "I mean if a hot girl was throwing herself at me, I'd definitely go for it."

"Right, but part of performing is separating Roger from yourself. This isn't just singing, Brady, this is show choir, we are performers. Maybe back in New Jersey with your band or whatever, you didn't have to do anything with your body, but this is different. Your movements have to reflect your vocals."

"Right…"

"For the most part, be angry, be pushing me away, but right here." She tapped a part of the sheet music. "When he's contemplating telling her the truth, move closer as though you're thinking about maybe changing your mind, and then when the music picks up again, BOOM! Back to anger, push me away, when I beg, turn away." Rachel stood in front of Brady, smiling at him. "Think you can do that?"

"Um…I can try?"

"Well try hard, okay?" Rachel rolled her eyes. "Like, really hard. Now we're going to start off from the beginning of yours, and just push me away as you start, okay?" She hit play on the boom box and crawled back into Brady's lap, immediately throwing him off focus and causing him to miss his cue to start singing. With a frustrated groan, Rachel got up and stopped the CD. "Are you paying attention? You need to be paying attention! This is a song about being afraid to fall in love again, afraid to accept someone into your heart that might be able to hurt you!"

"I get it," Brady stated. "I just missed my cue…I'll get it this time, let's just go again."

"And again and again and again until we have this down perfectly," Rachel informed him.

"Fine." Brady shrugged. The more time he spent out of the house, the better.

"Alright, here we go again." Rachel hit play, crawled back into his lap and the song started, this time without Brady missing the cue.

Rachel guided him through the basic choreography that she wanted, and though it took him several tries to get it down, he finally started to figure it out. After the sixth or seventh time, he had his part memorized, and after the eleventh or twelfth, he had the choreography down.

"Alright, that was good." Rachel nodded. "Now we're just going to try it once through with both songs, okay? I'm going to start with mine and then we'll just bleed right into yours, sound good?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Brady nodded. He had been there for almost 4 hours already and he was exhausted both physically and vocally.

"Don't act like you don't care, Brady," Rachel stated. "I can tell that you do – you act like you don't when you're not singing, but once you open your mouth, everything's different."

"I happen to like singing – can we please get this done? I'm getting tired."

"Fine." Rachel nodded, hitting play and starting in on her song. They went through both numbers without making any mistakes, and when the final song ended, Brady flopped down on the bed.

"Good enough?" he asked, looking up at the ceiling.

"For glee club rehearsal, yes." Rachel nodded.

"Good, because I don't think I have anymore in me tonight."

"If we go too late the neighbors will complain anyways." Rachel shrugged, sitting down on the bed next to him. "You're free to go."

"Right." Brady sat up, grabbing his jacket. "I'll see you Monday?"

"Yes." Rachel nodded. "And don't forget what I told you about Roger!" she stated.

"If I watch the damn movie, will you get off my back?" he asked.

"That would help with your characterization, yes." Rachel nodded as she walked him towards the door.

"Alright, I'll watch the movie and I'll see you Monday." Brady turned, leaving Rachel's house. He pulled out his phone and texted Mercedes.

**You were right. She takes this glee club thing WAY too seriously. She needs to lighten up.**

He got behind the wheel and was about to drive when his pocket buzzed, denoting that he had a response from Mercedes. He opened it, and scoffed as he read the two words on the screen.

**Good luck.**

**

* * *

_A/N Alright, so I know a bunch of you wanted more Rachel, so there she is! I like her in this chapter, she seems very Rachel-y to me, if any of guys don't know Rent and want to know something about it, let me know and I can give you a summary, but it seemed like a good play for Rachel and Brady to draw from! Again, there is still a poll open about the romance of this story on my page, and I'm still really curious to know what you guys think!_  
**


	8. No Day But Today

**_A/N Just a note for the duet, anything in bold is being sung by BRADY, anything not bold is Rachel.

* * *

_**

"You ready to go in there and make Finn jealous?" Brady walked up behind Rachel outside of the practice room after school.

"What?" Rachel turned around, looking at him, her head tilted to the side.

"Oh come on." Brady rolled his eyes. "I knew what this was about from the second you proposed it." He laughed. "Let's just go make sparks fly and make him wish he were in your arms."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rachel lied.

"Sure you don't," Brady said, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he opened the door, entering the room and taking a seat.

"Alright, everyone's here…who wants to go first?" Mr. Schuester asked.

"Brady and I have something prepared," Rachel stated, getting up and handing sheet music to the pianist. She moved a chair into the center of the room, and Brady sat down in it as the music cue for Rachel's song began. She had dressed for the part in a tight black t-shirt and a short block skirt…albeit, paired with her usual black flats, and she was moving in time with the song, really embodying what Brady had learned from watching the movie, to be the stripper that her character was.

Just as they had rehearsed, she ended the song in his lap, and they had only seconds before the introduction for the second song started. Brady smiled and started, instantly pushing Rachel from his lap as he began singing.

**Who do you think you are?  
Barging in on me and my guitar  
Little girl - hey  
The door is that way  
You better go you know  
The fire's out anyway  
Take your powder - take your candle  
Your sweet whisper  
I just can't handle  
Well take your hair in the moonlight  
Your brown eyes - goodbye, goodnight**

The music softened a bit and he walked towards her, and he took her hand, looking into her eyes with what he hoped conveyed some sort of passion. She looked back, a hopeful look on her face, just the way they had practiced in their hours of rehearsal.

**I should tell you I should tell you  
I should tell you I should - no!**

He threw her hand aside, backing up away from his, raking his hands through his hair and pulling at it as though very vexed and confused.

**Another time - another place  
Our temperature would climb  
There'd be a long embrace  
We'd do another dance  
It'd be another play  
Looking for romance?  
Come back another day  
Another day**

This time, Rachel moved towards him, grabbing both of his hands and looking him in the eyes, pleading him with both her expression and her voice. They had practiced this many times, but Brady had to admit that, as she began to sing, she was very convincing.

The heart may freeze or it can burn  
The pain will ease if I can learn  
There is no future  
There is no past  
I live this moment as my last  
There's only us  
There's only this  
Forget regret  
Or life is yours to miss  
No other road  
No other way  
No day but today

Once Rachel's part was done and Brady began to sing again, he pulled his hands away from hers and turned his back on her, walking to the other side of the classroom and then turning on her, singing accusingly at her.

**Excuse me if I'm off track  
But if you're so wise  
Then tell me - why do you need smack?  
Take your needle  
Take your fancy prayer  
And don't forget  
Get the moonlight out of your hair  
Long ago you might've lit up my heart  
But the fire's dead, ain't never ever gonna start  
Another time - another place  
The words would only rhyme  
We'd be in outer space  
It'd be another song  
We'd sing another way  
You wanna prove me wrong?  
Come back another day  
Another day**

Once again, she moved towards him, pleading him to pay attention to her, and Brady almost bought the act – he would have if they hadn't already gone over it a million times in her bedroom. There was no doubt that while uptight and crazy, this girl was talented.

There's only yes  
Only tonight  
We must let go  
To know what's right  
No other course  
No other way  
No day but today

I can't control

**Control your temper!**  
My destiny

**She doesn't see**  
I trust my soul

**Who says that there's a soul?**  
My only goal is just  
To be

**Just let me be!**

There's only now

**Who do you think you are?**  
There's only here

**Barging in **  
Give in to love

**On me**  
Or live in fear

**And my guitar**  
No other path

**Little girl, hey**  
No other way

**The door is that way!**  
No day but today...

**The fire's out anyway**

Brady began to push Rachel towards the door as they sang, her turned around, practically begging him as he pushed her backwards, away from him and away from the room.

No day but today

**Take your powder, take your candle**  
No day but today

**Take your brown eyes, your pretty smile, your silhouette**  
No day but today

**Another time, another place, another rhyme, a warm embrace**  
No day but today

**Another dance, another way, another chance**  
No day but today

**Another day…**

As Brady held out the long last note, Rachel walked through the door and out of the room, ending the performance that they had just but on. She waited a minute, Brady breathing heavily after investing so much in that performance, before she returned. She had told him she would do this, the pause was for dramatic effect.

"Wow…" Brittany turned to Artie. "That was like…emotional."

"Yeah." Artie nodded in agreement as Santana leaned into Brittany.

"Is it just me, or is he about 10 times hotter now?" she asked, tossing some of her hair over her shoulder.

"It's not just you." Brittany shook her head. "Lucky for you, I'm monotonous with Artie."

"Monogamous, honey," Artie said softly.

"Right." Brittany nodded, and a few seconds later, Rachel came back into the room.

"Well?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips, looking incredibly pleased with herself.

"Finn, you'd better watch out," Puck stated, punching his best friend in the arm. "That boy's gonna steal your solos and your girl."

"What do you mean?" Finn asked, leaning in.

"Rachel, dude. She used to be totally all over you, now she's all over that Brady kid. She did this song for a reason, she wanted a chance to get at him."

"No way." Finn shook his head. "That's just Rachel, she found a song she wanted to do and she went all out like she always does, there's nothing there between them, I mean I caught him smoking in the baseball dugout the other day, there's no way he's her type."

"Just sayin' you never know, man." Puck shrugged. "But it's not like your dating her, so she's open for business."

"Yeah, whatever." Finn shrugged.

"Well guys, that was pretty great." Mr. Schuester smiled. "Rachel, I expected nothing less from you, of course, but Brady, I didn't expect to see you get that into something like that."

"Eh." Brady shrugged. "It was fun, good excuse to get out of the house."

"Alright, well who's up next?" Mr. Schuester asked. As Puck got up to do his number, Brady sat down next to Mercedes, offering her a small wink.

"Well done, new kid." Mercedes patted him on the shoulder.

"You were right, so right." He laughed quietly. "She is way too into glee club, she needs to loosen up."

"Speaking of loosening up…" Santana slid into the chair on Brady's other side. "What do you say you and I loosen up together?" She tilted her head charmingly to the side, smiling at him. "Say, tonight, Breadstix, 8 o'clock?"

"Oh." Brady smiled at her, nodding. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Great." Santana flashed him her most charming smile. "Pick me up here." She scribbled her address on a piece of paper and handed it to him.

"Will do." Brady tucked the paper into his pocket and Santana went back to her normal seat. "Well that was easy," he said to Mercedes. "I thought getting a date around here would actually take work."

"There's getting a date and then there's getting a date with Santana," Mercedes stated. "If you buy her dinner, that girl will do anything."

"Really?" Brady raised an eyebrow, tapping his chin.

"Trust me." Mercedes nodded. "She's gotten with more than half of the guys in glee club."

"Alright then." Brady leaned back into his chair.

"Doesn't that bother you?" Mercedes asked, frowning slightly as she looked at her friend.

"No, not really." Brady shrugged. "I just moved here, I'm not looking for anything serious, a nice dinner and a little on the side with someone as hot as Santana might do me some good."

"Suit yourself." Mercedes shrugged.

"Mercedes, Brady, I'm glad that you're getting friendly, but your fellow glee clubbers are trying to show you what they prepared, so some respect would be great."

"Sorry, Mr. Schue," Mercedes said.

"Great, thanks." Mr. Schuester smiled and went back to running glee club. Brady looked around. Finn was watching Rachel and Santana, well, she had her eyes on him. He turned to Rachel and winked. It looked as though their plan had worked out after all.

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_**A/N As always, I would love your opinions! the most important thing I want to know is if you think I'm misrepresenting a character, so I'd love some feedback on how you think I'm doing with the canon characters!**_


	9. Playing the Blame Game

**_A/N I know that it's been a long time since I updated, but I've dealing with a lot of stuff, so here's the next chapter...finally! hopefully I'll have another one ready to go tomorrow!_**

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"So, your performance in glee club today was…amazing." Santana leaned forwards across the table, taking a bite of a breadstick as seductively as possible.

"Thanks." Brady smiled, snapping a breadstick in two, though he didn't eat either piece, he just played with them like drumsticks, hitting the table in no particular rhythm.

"Pushing Rachel away like that…it was just…hot." She reached out, stopping his drumming by putting her hand on his. "There's something about that girl that just gets under my skin, gets under everyone's skin, really."

"I don't know." Brady shrugged. "Finn seemed pretty in to her little performance."

"Well yeah…" Santana rolled her eyes. "It was sexy, guys like sexy. That's why you're here with me, isn't it?"

"True enough." Brady leaned back against the booth, smiling at the girl across from him. She was sexy, that was undeniably true, and he was glad to have yet another distraction from his family life. The meal they had just eaten had not been bad at all, and Santana seemed to be enjoying the infinite breadsticks being offered. In all, this is what he would consider a successful date.

"So." Santana leaned even farther forwards, flashing Brady a charming smile. "Want to get out of here?" She tilted her head to the side. "We could…go back to my place."

"I'll get the check." Brady nodded, throwing some cash down on the table and waiting for the waitress to take care of it. As soon as she had done so, Santana took Brady's hand, leading him out of the restaurant and to his car. He drove quickly, Santana's hand on his knee the entire time.

"We're here," Santana stated.

"Nice place." Brady nodded.

"Gets better." Santana smirked as she pulled him up to her bedroom.

"Yes it does." Brady kicked off his shoes and sat down on the edge of the bed while Santana headed to the bathroom to get ready. He pulled off his jacket and looked around the room. For being new to this place, getting lucky so quickly was very unexpected, but Santana seemed to be the kind of girl who gave it away, and he was alright with that, at least for now. He wasn't looking for anything serious, he never was, and this was just the kind of 'not serious' that he liked the best.

"Well, what do you think?" Santana exited the bathroom, marching towards him in lacy red lingerie.

"I think it you look good." Brady nodded approvingly.

"You think this looks good on me?" She straddled him, snapping the bra strap. "Wait till you see it on my floor."

"Count me in." Brady winked, and Santana leaned down, kissing him aggressively – if one thing could be said for Santana, she was a girl who knew what she wanted.

"Not bad." Santana leaned back in the bed once she and Brady finished.

"What, just a not bad?" Brady teased.

"Fine…" She rolled her eyes. "Pretty damn good, but-"

"But not Sam?" He tilted his head to the side.

"What?" Santana shook her head. "No…not Sam, but that doesn't matter." Santana turned away, and for the first time since meeting her, Brady noticed her show some sign of weakness.

"Alright then." Santana was making it more than clear that she didn't want to talk about it, and Brady, being who he was, wasn't going to bring it up. He wasn't too keen on listening to the problems of people he didn't know, and since he went largely out of his way to make sure that he didn't get to know anyone, he rarely paid attention to anyone's problems. "Look, it's getting late, I should run."

"Good plan." Santana nodded. "I need sleep."

"Alright, see you at school!" He hurried to put his clothes back on and ran out the door. Santana was the kind of girl he liked to hook up with once, but he really didn't see himself going back for more. Sure, she was good in bed, but she seemed to be looking for something that he couldn't give her, and he didn't want to get stuck in the middle of that, whatever it was.

"Where the hell have you been?" When Brady walked inside, his mother's boyfriend, Kenny, was standing in the kitchen, staring him down.

"Out," Brady stated.

"Your mother had no idea where you were."

"If she'd been listening, she would have known," Brady stated. "I told her AS I was leaving that I was going to dinner with a friend, she said fine."

"Yeah, right." Kenny rolled his eyes. "Sometimes I think you're more trouble than you're worth."

"Oh yeah?" Brady leaned against the wall. "Well I _know_ you're more trouble than you're worth," he shot back.

"Don't be a little brat," Kenny snapped. "This is my house, and don't you forget that you live by my rules."

"You're not my father." Brady shook his head. "I don't have to do a damn thing you say."

"Don't you dare raise your voice to me!" Kenny growled. "Especially not while you're mother's sleeping."

"Last time I checked," Brady said evenly. "You were the one raising _your_ voice to _me_…"

"You little shit!" Kenny reached out, slapping Brady. The slap was hard, leaving both a harsh sting and a bright red mark on Brady's cheek.

"What the hell?" Brady's eyes widened as he reached up, feeling the hot skin where he had been slapped. He had been in fights before, he had taken worse blows than this by far, but this was different. "You asshole…" Brady grabbed his keys from the counter and turned towards the door, ready to leave the house.

"Wait, Brady!" Kenny chased after him, grabbing his arm. "Don't tell your mother."

"What?" Brady asked, yanking his arm away from the man. "Don't tell the woman you're fucking that you hit her son because she might leave you?" Kenny didn't say anything, he just looked down. "Look, you just tell my mom I'm staying the night at a friend's. If she asks, which she won't, it's a friend from school." He turned, slamming the door in Kenny's face. He got in his car, putting the keys in the ignition and turning them, gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles before realizing that he had absolutely nowhere to go. He was in a new place, and he had no real friends. He didn't have a place where he could just crash when things got bad, the few people he was friends with, he didn't have their addresses, and there was no way in hell he was going back to Santana's. He sat in his driveway, holding tightly to the steering wheel before realizing that he really only had one choice…unless he wanted to go back inside and deal with Kenny.

_**A/N As always, feedback is much appreciated!**_


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